Emerging perspectives and challenges for virtual collaborative learning in an institution of higher education: a case of Lesotho

Purpose – This study aims to investigate emerging perspectives and challenges which teaching staff and

students in the Faculties of Business and Accounting, Health and Education as well as Computing

encountered in using Virtual Collaborative Learning during their classes in one accredited institution of

higher education in Maseru district Lesotho. Previously conducted studies reveal that although similar

studies to the current one have been conducted in different countries across the globe, conducting them in

another different country such as Lesotho and in a different context might provide new information.

Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on Lev Vygotsky’s social constructivism as the

theoretical framework because it is relevant and appropriate. The study was buttressed by constructivism

paradigm, qualitative design as well as a qualitative case study. A purposive sampling technique was used in

this study. A sample of 35 students and 11 teaching staff from the 3 respective faculties were used as

participants of the study. This qualitative case study was based on online questionnaires issued to the

participants using emails for data collection. Data were generated based on the themes which emerged.

Findings – The findings of the study suggest that majority of students found Virtual Collaborative Learning

helpful and a user-friendly tool. However, lack of resources, clear instructions from the teaching staff and

cooperation, internet connectivity issues, as well as data expenses have been identified as stumbling blocks

that discourage students’ satisfactory engagement in Virtual Collaborative Learning. The findings further

revealed various strategies including encouraging students to cooperate, grading students’ participation on

online platforms and consultations could be used to overcome the challenges encountered in using Virtual

Collaborative Learning. For generalisability and understanding of the breadth of the students and teaching

staff experiences and challenges of Virtual Collaborative Learning, the authors recommend further study to be

conducted on a larger representative sample, using the established themes of the current study.

Research limitations/implications – Using face-to-face interviews and classroom observations for

data collection would have been more suitable for a qualitative methodology. However, due to COVID-19

regulations that restrict contact and limit lessons on online platforms, an online questionnaire was used for

data collecti